Basil Soup
by Prewritesuccession
Summary: Temperance Basil, Rikkaidai's girls' team tennis captain, comes with Yukimura Seiichi to bring together the girls' and boys' team into a little friendly competition. But where rivalry and helpful practice was supposed to sprout, blooms a little something a little weirder, a little scarier, and a little deeper.
1. All You Need to Know

**This story is inspired by birdofdarkness's "A New Team." Check her out too!**

**Please enjoy and check out my other stuff! :D**

* * *

There were three things you needed to know about Temperance Basil.

Basil surveyed her girls, practice matches in session. Every one of her independent, strong, amazingly perseverant girls. After just a year, it seemed they had improved ten-fold. Basil wondered if this was how mothers felt about their children sending them off to college.

One, she is Rikkaidai's girls' first tennis team's second-year talented and very proud captain.

Basil ran a hand through her silver hair before pausing and narrowing her eyes. She folded her arms over her Regulars' jacket with a frown.

Two, she is exceedingly observant, in tennis and, for that matter, everything else.

Everything seemed so off today. Aresu's ever-present smirk was twitching. Katarina looked a little slow. Aika's drop shots were a few degrees off of her usual breakneck topspin. Maria's pinpoint serves were so far from the line, not like her usually barely-in shots. JJ's balls weren't half as fast. Ren hit long, pencil strokes, not like the gentle brushing she always did. Margarethe's hair-comb was off center.

It may seem trivial that her hair was just millimeters off, but Margarethe was..._Margarethe_. Rikkaidai's Dignified Wife. As captain, Basil had ordered a few small changes. First years could compete in ranking tournaments. Everyone was sorted into squads to help train. And it was true; she had started this whole, "we are Rikkaidai's women," theme. Everyone had a title in this family: JJ was the Charismatic Niece, Aresu its Teasing Sister, Aika their Trusting Daughter. And so on and so forth. It brought a sense of..._congregation, _she thought, to the group.

Practice matches were, for the first time, being held inter-school, which meant boys' teams and girls' teams were being conjugated to make Rikkaidai sports club history. _Maybe that was why everyone was off_, Basil thought. _They were nervous_. It was true; the Rikkaidai boys had won Nationals two years running, while the girls had been beaten each time in the finals, two years running. But that would all change this year, she knew, because she could change this team into winners, recovering basics in strength, speed, and stamina before starting to cultivate their individual talents.

And the third thing to know is that Temperance Basil never, ever, _ever _gets nervous.

She stood straight and clapped her hands. Basil tried not to look too pleased that every one of her Regulars looked up from their games. "Gather round, gather round," she called. "Important announcement about the inter-school games!" They hurried over, faces sweaty and rackets still in their grasps, but they were as energetic as ever.

When Basil counted eight heads, she clapped her hands together with a smile. "I am honored," she started. "To announce the line-up for this evening's matches!" Maria and Aika clapped politely while Aresu, Katarina, and JJ whooped. Margarethe and Ren just looked up at their captain quietly, but interest and excitement shone in their dark eyes. When they had quieted down, Captain Basil pulled out the notebook she and the boys' captain, Yukimura, had spent all of yesterday organizing together. Finally after a lot of deliberation, they had met an agreement, the results held on the little steno pad in Basil's tennis duffel. She had given one neat copy ripped off for Yukimura, one neat sheet for her.

"So, as the biggest change," Basil announced. "Is that the outline of our games will be this:" she cleared her throat. "Doubles 2, Aresu and Maria against..." Basil looked up at her girls' excited faces. "Kuwahara Jackal and Bunta Murai." Aresu and Maria gave each other a double high-five like a promise they would win. Aresu turned her head to her captain, dark blue eyes full of flame and bandaged fist clenched up like a challenge.

"We'll crush them, captain!" Maria smiled softly and nodded with her partner.

Basil smiled before she continued. "Doubles 1," she announced. "Aika and Katarina, with Hiroshi Yagyuu and Masaharu Niou." Katarina yipped and jumped up and down happily, holding Aika's hand in her own. Her partner smiled, but said nothing more than a quiet, _charming. _"This is where a change is," Basil said, Katarina abruptly stopping her excitement to pay attention to her captain. "We decided to just add a Singles 4 so all of our Regulars could perform. So the Singles 4 spot will be..." Basil looked up at her girls, faces taunt. She gave an exaggerated sigh and dropped the paper to her side. "You know, everyone here is a winner and Yukimura and I worked hard to pair you up with your best fit match to-"

"_Just tell us!_" The girls, including Margarethe chimed together. Basil laughed.

"Alright, alright. The Singles 4 spot will be occupied by..." she glanced a mischievous eye back up at her girls' impatient faces. "Our Luminescent Aunt Ren with...Kirihara Akaya!" The girls patted Ren on the back who blushed and curtsied to the ground. "And next is Singles 3...Margarethe and Renji Yanagi." Margarethe straightened and gave Basil a nod that said _I will win this for our team. _"Singles 2," Basil's eyes found the girl, light peach hair swaying at her hip and held back with a light blue band. "JJ with Sanada Genichirou." Juno grinned and twirled her racket in her fingers. Basil looked back up at her teammates. "And I'll be playing Singles 1 with Yukimura. Now, you're free! Do whatever until two O'clock when we gather back here." Basil smiled at her girls. "Let's do our best, today!" They bowed politely, but she could see they quivered with anticipation.

"Yes, Captain!"

School ended at noon that day in preparation for the first ever inter-school tournaments, so Basil decided she'd swing by the courts to see the girls in action. Even though they were free for the rest of the day, she knew they would be practicing hard in anticipation for this afternoon's matches. Basil slung her bag over her shoulder as she headed for the courts with a smile on her lips. As she expected, they were up and at it.

Basil stood and watched for a little while when Katarina jogged up next to her, ruddy cheeks flushed from the game she had just exited and hands clenching a brown paper bag. "Captain Basil," the girl breathed, catching her breath. "The boys' captain, Yukimura came a little while ago asking for you," she explained. "He said he wanted to do have last-minute discussion before starting the matches in a few hours and...uh...everyone was looking forward to the matches." Then, Katarina looked at the ground blushed.

Basil looked at her puzzled until giving an amused smile. _The cheeky Russian Blondie was being quiet for once? _Basil cocked her head inquisitively at her teammate. "What's up, Katarina?" she asked, not bothering to keep her smile out of her voice. Katarina looked to the side, still blushing, but a tiny smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Then, she looked down again and quickly held up the paper bag she held behind her back.

"Please give this to Bunta," she whispered, cheeks flushing an even darker shade of maroon. "I made these in Home Ec.," Katarina muttered, then ran back to join Aika waiting patiently at their court. Basil looked at the brown paper bag in her hands and smiled. _Oh, Bunta Murai, was it? _The captain gave a small laugh and opened the bag, revealing a plastic bag full of still-warm assorted cookies. She sealed it back up and rested her hand thoughtfully on the palm of her hand.

_Bunta Murai, was it? _

Basil unzipped her backpack and shrugged on her Regulars jacket over her school uniform. These cookies were still fresh. She smiled and casually made her way across the courtyard to the other side of the school, where the boys' tennis courts were. _For such good desserts to go to waste, well, that was just a crime._


	2. In Tennis and In Death

When Basil stepped foot onto the guys' courts, she was shocked by what she saw. There was Sanada and Renji, rallying easily like it was the easiest thing in the world, which it really was. Their shots were mediocre; easy and impossible to miss. There were Jackal and Hiroshi sitting at the baseline of one of the courts, still in their school clothes, sitting there and chatting. There was Kirihara with Niou and Bunta, fighting over some band-like thing.

She looked around for Yukimura, but he wasn't in sight. So Basil sighed and walked over to Bunta, ready to hand him the cookies and leave.

"Hey, hey!" Kirihara jumped for the band in Niou's hand, which Basil recognized as Juno's favorite violet head-band. "Hey! JJ gave that to me!" Basil gave a start. Juno gave him her favorite band? And _JJ_? Only her close friends called her _JJ_. Then, as she walked closer and watched Kirihara blush, Basil raised an eyebrow out of amusement. _Kirihara Akaya, was it? _She skirted, still smiling, over to them, bag clutched behind her back.

"Hello," Basil chirped with a tiny wave and a warm smile. She wasn't stiff like cardboard like Sanada or as closed and quiet as Margarethe; Basil tried her best to be open and welcoming, as both a captain and a person. Niou, Bunta, and Kirihara turned to her in surprise, Niou hastily bringing his arm down but still pushing Kirihara's arm away when he tried to reach the headband. She smiled pleasantly. "How are you all?" Then, like she had just saw the violet band, Basil frowned and pointed at it.

"What is that?" She put her hands on her hips, eyebrow raised, and still gripping the brown paper bag. "I think that's JJ's headband."

Kirihara flushed darker and managed to snatch the band back. "She gave it to me," Kirihara mumbled. Basil smiled again, smoothing her long locks of loopy silver curls playfully. She was tempted to pursue the topic a little further and watch the cocky boy turn even more maroon, but Basil decided that would be unnecessarily cruel. She flicked the subject off with a flip of her hair.

Basil held up the bag, handing it out for Bunta. "These are from Katarina," she told him, who eyed the paper sack with curiosity before popping a bubble and taking it. The captain smiled her happiest smile for Katarina. "They're delicious," Basil added.

Bunta peeked into the bag and his face brightened to a smile. He reached in and crammed a cookie into his mouth not bothering to take out his gum.

"These are _amazing_," he said, finishing off the first one with an exaggerated look to the sky. Bunta reached into the bag again and grinned up at Basil. "Tell Katarina I think I'm in love." Bunta crammed another cookie into his mouth as Niou watched amusingly and Kirihara fingered JJ's headband, still red. Bunta had meant it as a joke, of course, but Basil couldn't shake that. _I'm in love? _Basil felt herself smile again, but a little smaller.

_Winter love must only affect those ready_, she thought.

"Where's Yukimura?" Basil asked, shaking off her rainy mood.

Niou shrugged. "He went over there to talk to you about some last-minute change of plans." Basil blinked. _Change of plans? _Katarina had said that he wanted to have a last-minute discussion. The captain scowled. _About tennis. _Niou pretended not to notice her dark face. "Anyway," he said with a yawn. "Captain said we could do whatever until warm-up at 1:30." Basil gave a start.

_The tournament was at two. Only half-an-hour beforehand would they start to play? _Basil looked around at everyone, playing easily and fooling around._ While her girls were already warming up right now?_

In one way, Basil admired how Yukimura could trust his team to do whatever they wanted until a tournament, like she could trust her own girls.

In another way, she was offended.

_What? Girls weren't work practicing for?_

But Basil just shrugged.

"Thanks," she said dryly with a wave in somewhat thanks. To her alarm, Niou reached into his pocket. She knew his reputation as a prankster and somewhat-mean person, and subconsciously backed away. But what he pulled out was just an envelope, messily taped closed with unnecessarily large strips of silver duct tape and a messy signature across the back that read _Niou_.

"Give this to Aresu, would you?" he asked with a careless flick of his wrist. Basil gave him a look and gingerly took the envelope. "It's an invitation to the cosplay fair this year," Niou explained with a bob of his silver hair. Then, he grinned. "She seemed pretty interested. Ask Aresu to come." Basil smiled politely and nodded, tucking the invitation into her jacket pocket.

"Well, thanks," Basil said, trying not to sound disappointed. _What did Yukimura want to talk about?_ She left the tennis courts, running her fingers across the duct-taped letter in her pocket. _Niou Masaharu, was it? _Basil thought, the corners of her mouth lifting into a satisfied little smile. She absentmindedly made her way back to the girls' courts. Around the last corner, as Basil started to hear her girls playing, she bumped into someone, who quickly reached out to steady her. It was Yukimura, green headband around his head and yellow uniform on, his Regular jacket slung casually over his shoulders. It fell to the dirt as he held Basil's forearms.

She had impeccable balance, but still swayed a little bit at his touch. At that thought, Basil quickly straightened herself and picked up his jacket, patting the yellow fabric to remove dirt and subconsciously tucked a strand of her silver hair out of her face.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I'm very," Basil paused. "_Preoccupied,_" she decided. Yukimura nodded politely. Basil couldn't bring herself to look at his face, so she focused on the green band wrapped around his forehead.

"Yes, the tournament is close," he said, but they both knew that wasn't what Basil was talking about. A silence followed and Basil uncomfortably rubbed her sleeve. _This is why I don't look at people's eyes, _she thought. _Having awkward staring contests where no one dares look away is just..._strange_. _

Basil broke the silence first with a small cough. "So Katarina said you wanted to speak to me?" Yukimura nodded.

"I was wondering if we could change up the line-up," he started. Basil looked up at his soft violet eyes. "Just a small change, if it's all right," Yukimura added gently, being sure to emphasize that this was also her choice. Basil nodded and fingered his jacket in her arms as he continued. "Well, because this _is _just practice, I was wondering if we could change you with Sanada, and me with Margarethe?" He watched her hopefully.

Basil blinked.

Then raised an eyebrow.

And blinked again.

_He wanted Margarethe rather than me? _

She chastened herself angrily in her mind. _This was tennis. This was practice. _

But another part of her mind sang out, _tennis is his life, you know. So what's the difference to him? Practice or not, he doesn't want you. In tennis or in life. _Basil discreetly pinched herself to shut up and talk to Yukimura.

She cleared her throat before focusing on Aika playing with Katarina against Aresu and Maria so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Sure," Basil said flatly, trying not to sound as hurt as she felt. "Sure. Of course." She shoved his jacket back into his chest without looking up.

"Of course. No problem."

Basil walked stiffly back to her courts, not even bothering to seem relaxed or casual. She just watched Aika and Katarina play. _We will crush them_, she thought angrily, though she didn't know why she felt so fiery.

_We just will. _

"Katarina!" Basil suddenly barked out as she passed their courts. The blonde glanced over with surprise in her dainty features. "Support Aika." Then, she turned to the net player with cotton-candy pink and blue hair. "Aika!" the captain snapped. Said girl glanced over nervously, keeping one eye on the game, and one eye on Basil. "Keep offensive and don't be afraid to crush them."

Basil walked away, a little bit of her anger spent, but still bubbling. She felt them watching her, wondering why their usually gentle, "try your best" captain was being so cranky.

And for some reason that made her feel even more cranky.

She immediately felt terrible for screaming at her girls. If that could be considered screaming. Basil was one of those easy to anger, easy to forgive types of people; her girls had gotten used to it and waved it off easily. But she always told them beforehand that she was having an off day; her brother was being a jerk, she didn't sleep well last night. Never had she ever been angry to them without reason.

And now her conscious had Basil in a death-grip, threatening to squeeze her like a jelly doughnut.

Lovely imagery is the first step to living her world.

Basil rubbed her arms uncomfortably as she walked back over to the changing room. Her girls would know she was sorry, of course, but they would see their captain differently...in a tiny way. She opened the door to the room with a heavy heart laden down with everything from her burst and Yukimura.

She unzipped her tennis duffel, tucked neatly into her designated cubby near the door. Pulling out her tennis dress, she slipped out of her blouse and skirt, throwing them into her bag and stepping into her Rikkaidai girls' Regular uniform. It was the best, most comfortable dress, Basil always thought, even if it wasn't the most flattering color.

It was a comfortable, breathy cotton dress that reached loose to her knees. She always forced her girls to wear a pair of spandex or shorts under for modesty. It was a saturated shade of yellow with three fat stripes of black across the waist. A tiny oval stitched under her shoulder read in red and black letters, **Rikkai**. She had joked she always felt like a bumble-bee with a badge on, which only Katarina had laughed half-heartedly at. Basil smoothed her skirt, donned her jacket, adjusted the shiny black pin in her hair, and gently tugged out her best racket.

Maybe it was all just superstition, but Basil loved this racket more than anything else. It was jet black and strings silver stretched taunt. The logo had faded long ago, but the dark grip-tape around the handle was still fresh and newly wrapped. Basil held her racket comfortably at her side and fingered the bracelet tied securely around the top of the handle. A tiny, silver, gossamer bracelet that always made Basil feel better. Even now, just feeling the tiny leaves and tiny garnet roses under her touch soothed her pounding head.

It was like chicken soup to her soul.


End file.
